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DEDALUS - not to be confused with another Italian 'DEDALUS' who mix folk with jazz - were a most enterprising 70's jazz-rock quartet from Turin who still keep a high public profile among collectors. Evoking SOFT MACHINE but with an emphasis on keyboards, they use the violin, synthesizer, guitar, sax, cello, bass and drums; their style is more experimental and spacer than other Italian jazz-rock bands (KALEIDON, DUELLO MADRE, PERIGEO). After a first album in 1973, they lost their bassist and went on as a trio for a second album; they then lost their drummer and split up. In 1990, they reappeared for a third album that featured the original line-up minus the drummer. After many personnel changes, the keyboard player reformed the band under the name The BONANSONE DEDALUS GROUP who released a fourth album in 2004.
The eponymous first LP was their most SOFT MACHINE-like album, featuring some particularly spacey experimentation. "Materiale per Tre Esecutori e Nastro Magnetico" (1974) contains some highly complex music in a contemporary classical vein à la John Cage or Edgar Varese; it is also marked by a stronger use of electronics (no doubt due to the loss of their drummer). The privately released "Pia Visione" (1997) tried to revive the original spirit of the band but with a very minimalist approach. As for "Nomos Apache Alpha" (2004), it has a strong classical chamber music feel as it is mainly cello and flute based.
Fans of SOFT MACHINE and ARTI E MESTIERI should find the first, and particularly the second album, quite enjoyable.